The Fifth Marauder
by Alarun
Summary: A response to Severitus's Challenge, with random dabbles of danger and plot twists. Chapter 19, The Werewolf.
1. Chapter 1

_The Fifth Marauder_

By Alarun

Disclaimer:  I own none.  I just like to juggle with JK's apples.  And I don't mean for that to sound dirty, you sicko.

Brief And Vague Synopsis:  After an incident with a Weasley Twin Practical Joke, some surprising discoveries are made …and, of course, danger and plot twists ensue.  A response to Severitus' Challenge.   

_Prologue_

Fred and George Weasley chortled to themselves as they sat in the corner of the Gryffindor Common Room, a very-well-used prank-idea notebook open in front of them, pages thick from the extensive amount of writing contained within.  As George slowly turned the crinkling pages, a grin of maniacal glee formed on Fred's identical face.  George stopped turning pages and looked at his brother.

"See something interesting in that head of yours?"  George asked his twin.

"Why, George, I've just gotten the perfect idea for a prank."  Fred laughed evilly as George raised an eyebrow.  The two leaned closer and began whispering feverishly.

*          *          *

They used Moaning Myrtle's bathroom stall to brew the potion, having heard about it from Hermione after The Polyjuice Potion Incident in her second year.  Myrtle wasn't a bother; she had become used to students brewing the odd forbidden potion in her bathroom, and had most likely decided it was the only willing company she would get.  And thus she continued talking to the Weasley twins as they attempted to add a teaspoon of ground frogs' eyes to their bright orange, bubbling potion.  

The twins learned that ignoring her was their best option.  She couldn't physically do anything to them, anyway; just scream shrilly and cry loudly.

So the two redheaded, freckled seventh years continued brewing their concoction, which they had lovingly been calling 'the prank potion.'  Not a very original name, they conceded, but gave up after a week of thinking about what to call it.

"Ah, the wonders of adolescence," Fred mused quietly, over the soft bubbling of the thick substance.

"I hope it works," George cackled.

"It will, George, my boy."  Fred patted his brother on the back reassuringly.  "It will."

They laughed evilly, growing louder and louder until Moaning Myrtle joined in.  They stopped and looked at her.  The ghost stopped, adjusted her thick glasses, and hid quickly in the S-pipe of one of the vacated toilets, crying loudly.

*          *          *

The twins had decided to try out their Nearly Perfect Potion (they had to admit, they weren't _certain_ of what it would do …_precisely_…or how long it would last, among other, er, subtle details.  But this didn't miff them.  It wouldn't kill anybody, would it?  And if it doesn't kill anybody, it's bound to be terribly amusing…)  one day three weeks later, right after it was completed, in case the potion changed effects the longer it was stored.  

Traveling quietly to Hogwarts' kitchens, they asked Dobby to put the orange goop into the faculty's pumpkin juice goblets for the next meal.  Dobby, all too happy to comply with Harry Potter's friends, convinced the other house elves into it.  The twins left the kitchens without qualms, excited to see what the effects of their potion would be like.

*          *          *

Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley were unaware anything was going to be different during lunch.  They were busily talking about Quidditch maneuvers (Hermione was pretending to listen as she read a book placed strategically on her lap) as their tables were magically ladled with food of every kind.  Hermione silently buttered a warm roll as she reread a particularly interesting paragraph on advanced charms, pointedly ignoring Fred and George's sniggering to her right.

The Great Hall's dull roar abruptly skidded to a halt, making Hermione look up.  Most of the students' mouths had fallen open, and every eye was focused at the Head Table.  Even Harry, who usually recovered from shock rather quickly since his recent life-or-death situations, was still gawking.

Frowning, Hermione looked toward the professors to see what the amazement was about.  At first, she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, except that the teachers were no longer eating lunch, but standing and looking rather startled.  She felt her own mouth drop open as she recognized what wasn't right. 

All of the professors were teenagers.

Chapter I

Albus Dumbledore stood in the middle of the group of 16 year olds, trying to decide where he was.  It looked like Hogwarts, but it didn't look like his Hogwarts, from the mid 1860's.  There were no professors anywhere.  As a matter of fact, he was sitting in the Headmaster's seat!  Albus was fairly certain he wouldn't do that under normal circumstances.  He took a lemon drop out of his Gryffindor robe pocket and looked around.

He didn't know any of these people, he decided.  The tall, gangly teenager with the long black hair looked a bit familiar, but not enough to draw any memories.  He looked a bit like his Gryffindor year-mate Sclera Snape, but more like a relative.  Others didn't look at all familiar—one young witch, wearing glasses and a pointed hat bent at an odd angle (he wanted to fix that hat, but was afraid of seeming rude), was looking him up and down, obviously trying to discern who he was.

Maybe he had time traveled again.  It had happened once, when his time turner had gotten out of control …but he hadn't even been wearing his this time, he was fairly certain.  He checked for it around his neck, just in case.  

Nope.  No time turner.

*          *          *

Severus Snape was wearing his school robes, though why he found this odd, he couldn't remember.  He looked down at the Gryffindor Prefect badge on his chest, feeling slightly reassured.  He recognized Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall —though they both looked about a hundred years younger.  He noticed Hagrid and Filch, too, but they were strangely young looking as well.

He noticed that he was standing at the Head Table, looking down at the Houses, who seemed to be gawking open-mouthed.  Frowning, he scanned the tables for somebody familiar.

James Potter was sitting down at the Gryffindor table, talking with an unfamiliar Weasley and a bushy-haired girl, so he went to talk to them.  Maybe James knew what was going on.

*          *          *

"Hey, James!  What--" Severus of The Younger Years cut off abruptly as he approached the Potter.  "Hey, you're not James.  Who are you?"

The student seemed taken aback, he mouth opening as he took in his younger Professor's Gryffindor Prefect badge, the loosened red and gold striped tie, and the unusual disarray of black school robes.  "P-Professor Snape?"  He asked quietly.

"Professor?  No.  It's Severus Snape, but my friends call me Sev."  He held out his hand, which was taken timidly by the James-look-alike.  "You look like James Potter.  You wouldn't happen to know him, would you?"

He answered very quietly.  "James Potter was my dad.  My name's Harry."

The teenaged Snape raised both eyebrows, and his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat, his mouth trying to form words again.  "Oh," was all he said.

"Sir, I thought you were a Slytherin.  You're the Head of Slytherin House, even."  The bushy-haired girl asked him, standing up.  

He frowned.  "I'm pretty sure I'm a Gryffindor.  I've always been one, anyway, and I'm in my sixth year."

Her mouth snapped shut with a loud clack.


	2. Chapter 2

The Fifth Marauder 

By Alarun

Chapter 2

"PARTY!"  Lee Jordan screamed above the clamor of the Great Hall's confusion.  As one, the entire student body of Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry stood up, threw random foods into the air, and caused ultimate mayhem of the lunchroom.  Argus Filch threw himself into the students, diving off of the Head Table, crowd surfing and shrieking like the over-partying, and drunk, sixteen year old that he was.

Severus blinked as the crowd rose up like a great monster and, having prior post-Quidditch experience with insane teenagers, grabbed the three unsuspecting Gryffindors and made a speedy exit through one of the side doors.  

He led them to the Gryffindor Common room and sat down on the comfortable, over-stuffed couch in front of the vast fireplace.  "All right.  What the hell is going on here?"  He asked the three fifth years, running his fingers through his dark locks. 

 "First of all, Sir, this is Ron Weasley.  And I'm Hermione Granger."  The bushy-haired girl announced, opening her mouth too much.  Severus grinned.

 "I guess I must be a Professor here, huh?  Nice to meet you, I'm sure you already know me.  Hope I'm not too _evil_, since you said I was Head of _Slytherin_."  He chuckled as Ron shivered. 

 "This must be a practical joke; either that, or an attack by Voldem—sorry, Ron.  You-Know-Who."  Harry cleared his throat and looked thoughtful.  "The practical jokers of Hogwarts are Fred and George Weasley, without a doubt.  We should ask them."

 "I doubt we could pry any articulate information out of them right now," Snape supplied.  "We'll have to wait until tomorrow morning.  Or afternoon, depending on whether they find alcohol or not."  

Hermione pursed her lips, looking down at her Potions Professor.  "Do you suppose we should tell somebody at the Ministry about this?"

Ron looked like she had shouted something blasphemous.  "If you tell the Ministry, Dad'll get in a lot of trouble.  And Fred and George would probably be expelled!"

 "I bet they'll be expelled once we change back into adults, anyway," Severus supplied, "Where's your father, Harry?  And Remus, Sirius, and Peter?"

The trio flinched as Snape said 'Peter.'  Sev looked confused.

 "M-my father died when I was a baby.  Peter--" Harry was cut off by Hermione.

 "The only ones who can help us are Remus Lupin and Sirius Black," she said quickly, but realized that her reaction time was off.

 "Died?"  Snape's black eyebrows nearly hit his widow's peak hairline.  "_Died_?  As in _dead_?"

They could tell that Snape didn't hate James Potter nearly as much as they had believed.  If Snape had been a year-mate with the Marauders, and in the same house …

"Sir …….Sna—_Sev_?  Were you friends with my parents?"  Harry knew that was a stupid question, but couldn't phrase it any differently.  He noticed that Snape's hands had started shaking slightly, like he was in shock.

"Lily …is she d-dead too?  Is _Lily_ okay?"  He seemed to have not heard Harry's question.

"Lily was my mom.  She died protecting me from Voldemort."  Harry knew that he probably shouldn't have delayed answering that question, for some reason he knew only by his sixth sense.  Or maybe from Snape's shaking.

"She …and James?"  Snape shook his head, took a breath, started again.  "This isn't right…" He gave up and slouched forward on the couch, holding his head in his hands.

"Why not?  I heard they were a item at school," Ron asked dubiously, unaware of the building tension in Severus Snape.

Snape frowned, glared at the floor.  "Lily and I have been going out since second year.  James never looked twice at her; his girlfriend is Bella Rhymes."

*          *          *

"Alternate universe.  This is definitely an alternate universe…" Harry Potter continued repeating to himself, his arms wrapped around his torso, as he sat down next to Snape on the couch.  

"Alternate universe?  A prank would be easier to fix."  Snape stood up and started pacing.  "We need proof that we ---the professors--- didn't travel in time _from_ our past.  If we _transformed_ into teenagers—from, say, a potion brewed by Fred and George Weasley—it'd be much easier to _change_ back than go back in _time_--"

"But, how do we figure out if you turned into a teenager or switched places with your older self?" Ron sat down next to Harry.

"Severus," Hermione looked up at the sixth year, as Harry reflected silently that she didn't seem to have a problem adjusting to calling her Potions Master by his first name.  She sat on an arm of the couch.  "I know how to tell."

He smiled at her, "How?"  A single eyebrow lowered suspiciously as she blushed.

"Your left forearm," was all she said.

Snape frowned and rolled up the sleeve of his robe and white shirt to his elbow.  Standing out black against pale skin was a skull with a snake for a tongue.  He bit back a shriek and jumped.  "What the hell is _that_?"  

Hermione bit back an unladylike curse at his ignorance.  "The Dark Mark, Severus."

The color drained out of Snape's face, making his eyes look bigger and darker, more innocent.  "I'm a Death Eater."  It wasn't a question.  "Then why --?"

Harry cut him off.  "You're spying on Voldemort for Dumbledore.  That's all.  You're not really a Death Eater."    

"But --" Snape was cut off again when the Fat Lady's portrait swung open, revealing two shadowed forms.


	3. Chapter 3

The Fifth Marauder 

By Alarun

Chapter 3

"What are _you_ doing in here?  _You're_ not a Gryffindor!"  The shorter of the shadows snapped angrily.  The taller gave him what might have been a reproachful look, because he cowed his head and remained furthermore silent.

The two shadows walked silently into the Common room.  Snape stopped pacing as he recognized them first.

"Remus?  Sirius?"  He grinned, "Whoa, you guys look really old."

"And you look really young, Severus.  I couldn't help noticing that there weren't any faculty or staff around when Snuffles here and I arrived by floo.  Would you please explain what happened?"  Remus Lupin, ever polite, folded his arms over his patched-up robes and looked down at the young Snape, an amused expression on his face.

Snape and Hermione went about explaining the situation to Remus, competing with big words, as Ron looked on in dismay.

Sirius Black snorted—much like his animagus form—and gave Harry a big hug.  "What's _he_ doing here, Harry?"  He asked none-to-quietly.

"You and I are brothers, Sirius."  Snape's shoulders slumped as he looked over to the shaggy-haired adult, blinking in confusion.  "What the heck happened between 1982 and now?"

"Brothers!  Did you hit your ---Did he hit his head?"  Sirius Black directed the question at his godson, upon deciding that if Snape was indeed delusional, he wasn't lucid enough to properly respond to an interrogation.

Harry merely shrugged, and Snape made a confused noise.

The Potions Master-To-Be mumbled something complicated that ended in "potion," and stalked out of the Gryffindor Common Room, his school robes billowing out behind him as if he was simply a short version of his adult self.

Hermione followed him without hesitation, trailed by a protective Ron, and a more reluctant Harry.  Remus and Sirius ---who was still scowling slightly ---went after them.

Severus led them quickly through the halls, navigating easily around crowds of drunken students and moving staircases, to the dungeons.  Albus Dumbledore appeared to be dancing in his red and gold boxer shorts, holding up bottles of alcohol.

Once he got to the bottom of the stairs, however, he halted so suddenly that Hermione walked into his back, making him yelp.  

"Sorry about that."  Hermione told him, gripping his upper arm.  He frowned at her.

"I don't know the password for my private rooms.  They're down here, aren't they?  I'm the Potions Professor, so my rooms would have to be down here …" He trailed off, distracted and scowling at the cold stone walls.

"We'll go to the classroom.  There might be something there."  Snape walked to the iron bound oak door, pushing it open and marching confidently in, striding between the desks to the head of the room.  He was rifling through his desk when the others entered the room.

"What in the world are you looking for?"  Sirius Black transformed back into a human, glaring and crossing his arms.

"Something.  Anything.  Proof."  Snape swept some graded reports to the other side of his desk, looking around.  He tried to open the drawers, but they were locked.

Frowning again, he pulled something out of his pocket.  It was a thin, stiff piece of wire.  With it, he began picking the lock of the center drawer, knowing better than to try _Alohamora_ on something magically protected.

"Why, you --!"  Sirius was obviously remembering something from his school years, because he looked furious.  "I knew it was you!"

Severus sneered at the desk, pointedly ignoring Sirius.  Suddenly, there was a muffled _click_ and he opened the drawer carefully.  Knowing himself, there was probably some sort of nasty spell hooked onto this desk.

There wasn't.  He ruffled through that drawer, and, finding nothing, continued on to the upper right drawer.

Fifteen minutes of searching later, Snape made a quiet exclamation of surprise.  He sat up, holding a small, covered pewter dish. Upon lifting off the heavy lid, they saw that it was filled with a thick, silver liquid.  Harry examined it –-it reminded him of mercury.

"All right, I give up.  What is it?"  Harry looked at the sixth year.

"It's a pensieve."

***

"Exorcizo te, omnis spiritus immunde, in nomine Dei Severus Snape---"

"Oh, shut up, Sirius."


	4. Chapter 4

The Fifth Marauder 

By Alarun

Chapter 4 - _A Fronte Praecipitium A Tergo Lupi_

A young man stood in the center of a brilliant circle of glowing silver.  His face was contorted with half agony, half rapture; his eyes squeezed shut as if in pain, his hands balled into fists at his side. His head was thrown back, and his long black hair blew gently out of his pale face.

_He was wearing a thick, black robe that seemed to be waving in the gentle breeze, revealing black pants and a white shirt.  _

_Wizards were standing around the circle that contained him, chanting rhythmically in Latin.  The power surrounding them was so palpable it was almost visible; a muggle would have been able to sense it in the air._

_Albus Dumbledore was one of those wizards.  The others looked as venerable as the Headmaster, though all of them were scowling in deep concentration.  A determined, hawk-like gaze of concentration emanated from Albus, who looked like a stranger from the lack of the usual twinkle in his blue eyes._

_The young man's lean body elongated and twisted under the power of the wizards.  His nose became hooked, what seemed a permanent scowl placed itself on his face.  His hair became stringy and greasy, and lengthened a few inches, giving it a slight curl.  The red and gold Gryffindor emblem on his chest turned into a green and silver serpent._

_He cried out in pain, clutching at his left forearm, and fell to the ground, unconscious._

"All right…what in the hell was that?!"  Sirius Black yelled into the silence, still staring at Snape's supine form lying on the ground.

The sixteen-year-old Snape shrugged, his face drained of color.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron were silent.

_Albus Dumbledore knelt next to the still figure, placing a hand on his shoulder. _

_"Severus?"  The Headmaster inquired quietly._

_A groan came from the dark clad form, followed by a shudder, then; "P-professor?  D-did it work?"_

_"Yes, Severus.  Your past was successfully _Obliviated_, and replaced with one of your specifications.  It can be undone, if you feel you can't live like this---"_

_"No!" Snape interrupted forcefully.  "He killed my parents because he found out they were in the Order of the Phoenix!  I need to help in his downfall, even if it is by living an act for the rest of my life."_

The six figures standing in the pensieve stood in shocked silence, none willing to break it.

_*          *          *_

_"I am loyal to you, My Lord.  I always have been."  Severus Snape knelt at the feet of the Dark Lord. _

_"Ah, yes."  Voldemort smiled and stood up. "Loyal Death Eater to the end, isn't that right, Severus?  Prove it to me.  _Crucio_!"_

As Severus Snape fell to the ground in choking agony, five of the visitors were pushed out of the pensieve.

Severus Snape, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley stepped back from the pewter bowl.  Harry Potter remained transfixed, his body frozen but his green eyes darting around as if in an REM state.  They decided to leave him be, since he wasn't forced out of the pensieve, it could only be a memory meant to be seen by the Boy Who Lived.

"Heh."  Severus, the color starting to pull back into his face, looked around nervously.  "I guess we really do remember two different pasts."

Sirius Black began to speak, but Remus Lupin quickly cut him off.  "Severus, tell us what you remember."

Snape paused for a moment, looking at Harry.  "I was born on the nineteenth of November, 1966.  Sirius," he nodded in Black's direction, "and I are twins.  We were raised by Vincent and Ellimere Rhymes, our foster parents from the age of 10. They have three daughters, Bella, Ila, and Anna Rhymes.  Our parents were …as you heard in the pensieve …murdered by Voldemort because they were in the Order of the Phoenix.  Is there anything else?"

"What is the last year you remember?"  Remus Lupin asked.

"1982."

"Padfoot, does this ring any bells?"  The werewolf turned to face Sirius as Snape jumped in surprise.

"I remember our animagus forms."  Snape looked at them, shaken by Lupin calling Sirius _Padfoot_. "I was a gyrfalcon …Sharptongue."

Sirius's mouth dropped open.

*          *          *

"Wormtail!  Tend me, you fool!"  A pale face and slit pupils glared around the abandoned cabin, looking for Peter Pettigrew.

"I am h-here, M-my Lord."  Wormtail fell to his knees in front of Voldemort, touching his forehead obediently to the ground in front of him.  Voldemort pushed him back with a burst of energy, leaning back in his winged chair.

"No!  Summon the Death Eater Lucius Malfoy, and tell him that he must determine the situation at that damned school!  I cannot feel the magic of Dumbledore anymore.  He is either dead or incapacitated.  Then you must find a scrying glass, and attempt to See it.  It would be possible without that Headmaster maintaining the wards.  Do you understand these simple instructions?"

"Ye-es, M-my Lord."  Peter hesitated, quivering. 

"Well, my fool?  What keeps you from doing as I order?"  Voldemort pulled out his wand.

"N-nothing, M-my Lord."  Peter wasn't sure if he was supposed to bow again, so he just apparated from his knees.

A Fronte Praecipitium A Tergo Lupi –Latin, a precipice in front, wolves behind (between a rock and a hard place).  Thank you http://members.ozemail.com.au/~enigman/latin.html, an awesome site chock full of popular Latin phrases.


	5. Chapter 5

The Fifth Marauder 

By Alarun

Part 5

"…Uuunh…"

"…What hit me..?"

"…I think it was a train…"

"…Oh, man…" 

"…And it hit me too…"

"…I think…"

"…I'm gonna be sick…"

Fred, or George (they couldn't tell themselves apart this early in the morning), ran unsteadily toward the nearest bathroom, holding his hand over his mouth.  The other Weasley twin put his head back down on the stair and closed his eyes, wishing for the staircases to stop spinning and cursing the phantom pains of twins.

All around him, students lay groaning and writhing on the ground.  It was like the site of a massive battle, but instead of blood, there was alcohol.  George (or Fred) wondered idly what had happened to all of the professors.

_*          *          *_

_"Severus!" _

_Harry tried to run forward, but his legs refused to listen to him.  He did not remember that female voice that had just screamed Severus's name, but he knew who it belonged to without a doubt. _

_He had realized that he was alone in the pensieve when the world shimmered from a Death Eater meeting to a beautiful English house.  Unable to resist, Harry explored the front hall of the cottage, searching the moving pictures for signs of familiarity._

_He saw Lily and Snape waving at him from one, holding a small, black haired baby between them._

_He saw Lily in a wedding dress, dancing with Snape, laughing and hugging and kissing …  
  
_

_He saw the pictures that Hagrid had given him; only James was replaced with Snape._

_He looked out the window and saw people dressed up in Halloween costumes, running down the dark street in unadulterated terror …_

_He heard his mother screaming Snape's name._

_Harry broke out of his paralysis and ran up the stairs two at a time, taking the first door on the left.  It was a nursery, and he saw himself—almost a year old –crying in the crib.  His mother and father were kneeling at Snape's side, who was writhing on the ground, choking back screams.  Lily was holding his hand in both of hers, tears running down her cheeks, speaking reassuring words.  James looked concerned, taking Snape's vital signs with his wand._

_Then he realized.  Like a dying man focuses on the smallest detail in the pit of trauma.  _

_Why was Snape in all of the pictures with Lily?  _

_Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, couldn't move as he saw Voldemort glide into the nursery.  His wand was raised menacingly, and James Potter jumped protectively in front of Lily, Severus, and baby Harry.  His glasses had fallen off, and were lying on the floor behind him._

_Voldemort never slowed down, never looked at James.  He only muttered "_Avada Kedavra,"_ in his serpentine voice, pointing his wand lazily at Harry's father.  _

_James couldn't dodge, the spell was cast too close, and it hit him in the center of his chest.  Green light flashed around the room, and in slow motion the Marauder sank to the blue-carpeted floor.  _

_Lily Potter screamed and stood, brandishing her wand like a sword.  Harry moved between the two, trying desperately to protect his mother, only dimly realizing that this was a memory._

_Before the second Unforgivable could be cast, before Lily could throw a curse, the entire room swirled in a vortex of color with Harry in the center.  Everything faded out, and Harry felt the dungeon floor hit the back of his head._

"Harry!"

"Is he going to be---?"

"Yes, hand me that blue potion over there, third from the left..."

"This?"

"Yes!"

"Harry?"

"Harry, are you ---"

Harry Potter screamed.

*          *          *

Lucius Malfoy attempted to apparate onto Hogwarts' Grounds, as he attempted every time he visited the school.  To his surprise, the world came back into focus outside of the Main Gate.  He stood there for a moment, looking at the front door, scowling confusedly.

The Malfoy line was known for quick recovery time.  Lucius placed his hand on the door handle, twisted and pushed it open.

He felt his mouth drop open at the sight of the wreckage inside the Great Hall.

*          *          *

"Janessa, Isaac!  It's time to eat! Come _on_, hurry up!"  Mrs. Nielson yelled out the kitchen window to her adolescent children.  "Don't forget to wash up!  I made tuna fish ---" The woman's voice died in her throat as she looked out of the window, the previous scrubbing of the celery forgotten in her hands, the cold water still on, and she knocked a chair over in her scrambled attempts to get to the back door.

She tried to open the screen door, but her hands were shaking so badly that it took her what felt like an eternity to properly push the door handle.  Bounding off of the cement steps into the neatly trimmed grass, she ran over strewn toys to reach her children.

Janessa and Isaac were lying motionless on the ground; her older son had attempted to shield his sister with his body.  Surrounding them were intimidating forms in billowing black robes and expressionless silver masks.  None of them moved.  

"Isaac!  Janessa!"  She ignored the men, suffering from shock, and fell next to her children, looking for a sign of life in their wide eyes.  She found none, and she screamed.

Something grabbed onto her shoulders, pulling her back.  It was her husband Robert, and she tried to cry hysterically into his chest.  He pushed her away from him, and forcefully turned her to face the circle of strangers.  One of them said "_Imperio_," holding up a thin stick.  Then she knew nothing.


	6. Chapter 6

The Fifth Marauder 

By Alarun

Part 6__

_"They did _not_ sell us out!  I won't believe my friends would do that to me!  Lily is _dead_, for Merlin's sake!"  Snape was pacing Dumbledore's office, breathing like he was going to have an anxiety attack at any moment._

_"Severus, sit down, please."  Albus Dumbledore conjured two cups of tea onto his desk.  "Calm yourself ---"_

"Calm myself?_  You just told me that Sirius or Remus _sold_ my name to _Voldemort_!  They --"_

_Dumbledore cut him off.  "Severus, you insisted on informing the Marauders and Lily of the truth, keeping them out of your _Obliviation_.  Nobody else knew that you were a spy.  Who else is there?"___

_"You knew.  The entire bloody Order of the Phoenix knew!  I could have slipped at a meeting!  Anything!  All that matters is that Lily and James and Peter are dead!  _Dead_, Albus!"  Snape stared, irritated, at the Headmaster when he motioned for the distressed man to sit._

_"Severus," Albus began, using his name as a focus point.  "Sirius was taken by the Dementors to Azkaban.  He's going to have a trial in about a month, after this tragedy dies down a little."  Both men flinched at Albus's poor word choice._

_"You're going to have to do the Obliviate again.  This time, nobody will know."  The emotion in Snape's eyes was torn.  He didn't want Harry to grow up without him, but he didn't want to risk getting his son hurt.  Safety won out. "Not even my son.  He can't.  Harry would die if Voldemort ever found out."_

Harry felt his jaw drop open at hearing Snape say that Harry was his son.  He had figured it out from before in the pensieve, but to hear it voiced as common knowledge was still somewhat of an unfamiliar shock.  

"Yes, Severus.  We can fix it, if you're sure …Voldemort is gone now, remember."

_Snape scowled at the floor, obviously infuriated with himself for not being able to do anything to help his family.  "But his followers can be just as dangerous.  Lucius Malfoy was Voldemort's right-hand man; he's good enough to keep them prepared for the eventual return of the Dark Lord."_

_Albus couldn't think of a reply, so silence reigned in the Headmaster's office._

_"Did Bella take that aging potion she asked me for?"  Snape asked suddenly.  _

_"I believe so.  She has planned to move next to the Dursleys' home on Privet Drive, to keep a watchful eye on Harry.  She has nothing else to do, she said, now that James is …" Dumbledore trailed off._

_Severus closed his eyes and sat down._

*          *          *

Lucius Malfoy stalked silently down the shadowy corridors of the Hogwarts dungeon, intent on the Slytherin Common Room with purposes of getting his son Draco out of the bloody school.

Upon passing the heavy Potions lab door, which was pushed slightly ajar with a thin stream of yellow light escaping, he paused.  Even when he and Severus were in school together, the introvert spent much of his free time in the dungeons' labs.  Why would things be different with an incapacitated Headmaster, wherever Dumbledore may be? 

The mellow smell of a Calming potion, along with the misty steam that accompanied the ingestion of the mixture, emanated through the thin crack of light.  Lucius's ears perked up, listening …

…Sirius hushed their conversation as he felt the presence of another being outside of the door.  Having spent so much time as Snuffles, the shaggy black dog, had developed his senses of hearing and smell further than his eyesight.  He quietly stalked toward the door, pressing his ear as close to the wood as he could without moving it, and sniffing an underlying smell of the intruder.  The lilac and rosemary of washed clothing, a specific mixture of perfumes developed by individual house elves to scent the clean laundry.  Money.  Darkness.  Power.  A Malfoy.

Sirius jumped back, looking toward the others, realizing that he had spoken Malfoy's name aloud.  Harry, once being dosed with a Calming potion, had insisted on returning to the pensieve with nary an explanation to the others.  He sat with his back to the door, slouched over the small pewter object.  Ron and Hermione were staring wide-eyed at Sirius, Remus was alternating between watching Harry and Padfoot, obviously unsure of what to do, and Snape was removing his red and gold tie, hurriedly yanking off his outer black school robes, throwing them behind a desk.

…"Malfoy…"

A quiet, rasping voice, obviously unaware that it had spoken aloud, sounded directly on the opposite side of the door as Lucius's head.  The Death Eater jumped back a clear foot before stopping himself from crying out.  He drew his wand and muttered a curse at the door…

…Before Snape's Gryffindor school robe and tie hit the floor, the door flew open with enough force to send it nearly off its hinges.


	7. Chapter 7

The Fifth Marauder

By Alarun

Part 7 

"IMPERIO!"  A cold voice shouted over the rising murmur of stymied Muggle citizens.  They stopped as one, leaving a silence so heavy that the hoarse chortling of the Death Eaters was clearly audible.

They had gathered at an emergency town meeting about the recent disappearances of many of the citizens.  Entire blocks were deserted, the grass growing nearly knee length in some of the rural yards, bicycles and children's toys sitting in the empty streets.  Cars parked in the middle of the road, doors opened, keys in the ignition.  The front doors of the houses were unlocked, some wide open.  People were beginning to panic.

The moderator of the meeting was at the podium, attempting to restore order in the chaotic assemblage.  He continuously rapped his gavel on the podium, but nobody heard him for what felt like an hour.

Cursing under his breath, he loudly slammed the gavel down one last time, dropping it onto the stage.  The sound of it hitting the floor was unbelievably magnified, echoing off of the walls, and the people immediately silenced, mouths hanging open, eyes turned toward the grey haired moderator.  

The moderator, however, was no longer concerned with the attention of the members of the town meeting.  He was staring at the entrance doors, which had slammed open against the walls, producing the slamming noise that had surprised so many.

Intimidating figures in flowing black robes entered the town hall, in the form of an extended V.  They were led by a taller figure with a white, bald head and slits for nostrils.  His eyes were slightly tilted at the outer corners, and contained a burning madness.  He carried a stick that was about as long as his forearm and as thick as his finger.  The moderator left the stage to meet the men as they halted half-way to the podium.  

The cloaked ones turned militaristically to the side, holding their own forearm-length-sticks up vertically in front of their hooded faces.  The man in the lead began walking once again, brushing gracefully past the moderator.  He walked up the stairs to the stage, and stood at the podium, smirking. 

"_Ladies and gentlemen_," He began in a hissing voice, "_you have just been enlisted into my armed forces_."

*          *          *

Lucius Malfoy paused in the doorway, the heavy, iron bound door swinging against the wall on a lower hinge.  His wand was unconsciously raised in the proper dueling position.

Severus, yes, Severus was in the room---looking surprisingly young and naive.  Wide, dark eyes gazed at Lucius, unblinking.  He seemed to be lacking his Slytherin school robes, but that was the only thing that separated the reminiscence from the reality.  He looked like he was in his late teen years, before he had joined the Dark Lord's ranks.

"Severus, how good to see you," Malfoy senior looked down his nose at the boy.  

"Good to see you, too, Lucius."

"What …are you doing here with these Gryffindors?"  He spat _Gryffindors_ like it was a curse.

Severus seemed thoughtful for a flicker of an instant, but answered, sneering, "A potion these Gryffindors were brewing for a detention exploded, turning me physically into a teenager.  I was attempting to find a cure, since I _am_ the potions master at this school."  

"I see.  And them?"  Lucius motioned with his eyebrow to Lupin and Black, who were standing together and poised like they were preparing to run from a bull.

"They followed me, as per Headmaster Dumbledore's orders.  It seems I am not to be trusted as much as I had previously thought."

"So he is well, then?"

"Of course, why wouldn't he be?"

"I heard ---well, never mind.  I am here to discuss Draco's transfiguration grades; they seem to be dropping hazardly as of late.  Good evening, Severus."  Lucius nodded his head and took his leave, completely ignoring the others.  

Pulling out his wand, Remus muttered a quiet _repairo_ to fix the laboratory's door.  Sirius closed and locked it.  

"Well …that was good acting, Snape," Sirius conceded.  

"Thanks."  Snape chewed on his lip for a moment before turning back to look at his brother.  "You don't believe me, do you?  That we're brothers, I mean."

Sirius shrugged.  "It's difficult to put false memories in a pensieve, but it has been done before.  You'd have to be very powerful, and …er…have a motive.  I don't know what you would gain by telling me that we're brothers."

"This is all very confusing."  Ron Weasley added in, rubbing his temples.


	8. Chapter 8

_The Fifth Marauder_

By Alarun

Part 8

The rhythmic marching sounded like an echo through the Death Eaters' chests as they sat atop their black flying horses.  The evil equines stood stock still with their necks arched, wings closed against their sides, red eyes blazing.  

Voldemort felt that horses were a much more practical pedestal for warfare than the precarious racing brooms.  Horses were a weapon in themselves, with more than a thousand pounds to swing around.  Four steel hooves could pound anything into the dust, and strong teeth could rip arms out of their sockets.  

The Dark Wizards sat silently in their flowing black robes, their faces hidden behind silver masks.  Voldemort smiled at the muggle legion as they marched past for inspection.  

They had no common uniform.  Suits and dresses and denim and t-shirts, all uncared for because of the status of the muggle's minds.  Their hair was messy, the men were unshaven, and they all stared ahead with unseeing eyes as they marched ahead in perfect formation.

*          *          *

"Professor Dumbledore, Sir?" 

"Sir?"

"Are you alrigh', Sir?"

"Unnh, not so loud.  What year is it?"

"Hangover?"

"Where am I?"

"Sir?"

"Shh!"

"Who are you?"

"Minerva McGonagall.  Hogwarts class of 1927." 

"I'm Albus Dumbledore, class of 1868."

"Wow, you're old."

"Not so loud."

"So who are you?"

"Rubeus Hagrid, 1952, Professor Dumbledore, Sir."

"Nice to meet you all.  I think I need to go back to sleep, however.  Good night."

"Good night, then."

"'Night, sir."

*          *          *

Fred and George finally stumbled into the Common room, to lie down on the couch and the chair, respectively, falling back into the dank pit of nauseated sleep.

They were, unfortunately, jerked awake again almost the instant they fell asleep.  

Fred's eyes followed the fist that was gripping his collar, up the arm, to rest on the face of one Severus Snape.  And he looked to be in a foul mood.

"The ingredients for the potion, if you would, Weasley," the Potions professor said through gritted teeth.

"I ---"

Sirius Black cut him off.  "No need to play innocent, you know.  We'll get the information one way or another.  There isn't a professor at Hogwarts, remember?  We can do pretty much anything we want and there's nobody to stop us."

"But ---"

"So maybe if you told us now, I would be able to intervene before Mr. Black here does something we're all going to regret."

_Threats work wonders, _Snape thought to himself as he wrote down the ingredients the Weasley twins had ingeniously put together.  He looked at the scrawled list and recognized it to form the Adulescentia potion.  The Youth potion.

Adulescentia: Latin; Youth.


	9. Chapter 9

Some of you seem confused, so here's an abridgement:

_Fred and George Weasley, using their ingenious skills at mischief making, had formed their very own de-aging potion, and gave it to the professors.  The teachers all turned to the age of 16, or thereabouts.  _

_Thus, the elder teachers (such as Albus and Minerva …and basically everybody else) had no idea who the others were, or even what they were doing there.  Severus Snape, being the youngest, knew most of the teachers for who they were, and figured out that something wasn't quite right.  He mistook Harry Potter for his father James, and went down to the Gryffindor table._

_Sirius Black and Remus Lupin come in._

_We learn that Sev is actually a Gryffindor prefect.  After some excitement with Grown Up Snape's pensieve (or is it penseive?), we learn that Snape's parents were killed because of their association with the Order of the Phoenix.  _

_The remaining professors, however, decided to have a gigantic party._

_Sev and Siri, being twin brothers (something we found out in the pensieve) worked together to get the recipe for Fred and George's potion.  It turned out they made up a rather famous potion called the Adulescentia potion._

_Moldy Voldie, however, seems to be kidnapping muggles and using the Imperio curse on them, to form an army.  He had sent Lucius Malfoy to Hogwarts to find out what happened to Dumbledore, since he seems to be out of the picture (with a hangover, actually.  A sixteen year old Dumbledore wouldn't have any idea about Voldemort, and thus wouldn't continue holding up the wards that protect the school.  Thus the apparation boundary seems to have dissipated.)_

_And, of course, as an answer to Severitus's challenge, Harry found out that Snape is his real father.  Sev and Lily were married until she was killed._  

_The Fifth Marauder_

By Alarun

Part 9__

"My Lord." Lucius Malfoy fell to his knees in front of Voldemort, nearly touching his forehead to the ground in front of him.  

"Rise," the serpentine voice hissed impatiently.  "What do you have to tell me of Dumbledore's stronghold?"

"I have some very interesting information, My Lord …"

*          *          *

Sirius Black cackled and rubbed his hands together with maniacal glee.  "So, what do you think we're going to do now?"  He brought up while he and the resident potions geek walked swiftly toward the dungeons; Snape's stalking was somewhat limited because he was sans long black cloak.  

Snape hesitated, further taking away from his grown-up self's unconscious elegance.  "There aren't any dangerous ingredients in the students' potion cabinets, are there?  Of course there wouldn't be …I wouldn't …there's no way for me to get past my own wards, to my own stores ---I don't know the password."

"Bugger.  So much for an antidote, eh?"

Snape kicked a mahogany armor stand, cracking an apologetic smile when it turned toward him.  The knight took this as proficient apology and turned back to its proper position, proudly holding up a lance. 

"It will wear off, eventually," Snape said finally.  "I can't remember the exact dates …It's something like this; you gain a year every week for two weeks, after that you gain a year every half-week for two weeks, and eventually you'll end up gaining a year a day, until you hit your normal age.  At least, I hope I remember it correctly.  It may be that you gain a year a day until you either die, or find an antidote.  Or, if you don't drink an antidote before three weeks …or was it two? …the cure would have no effect and you will continue to age until you die.  I need _Rare Potions and Poisons_; I know it's in there.  And I bet the book is in my room.  Behind the wards."

"But you know an antidote, right?"

"I think I do.  It's complicated, though.  If it isn't exactly right ---" Severus suddenly felt lightheaded, and he caught himself on the mahogany stand when his knees buckled.  He saw Sirius heavily sit down on the ground, holding his head in between his knees.  Must be phantom pains.  When twins were especially close, they experienced each other's emotions in a slightly lessened state.

All of the muscles in his left forearm convulsed spasmodically, and the inside of his left forearm felt like it was on fire.  Snape clenched the hurt arm against his side, as if pressure would alleviate the pain.  He heard Sirius cry out next to him, and he ground his molars together to prevent from screaming.

When the wave of pain eased slightly, Severus and Sirius both stood.  

"I have to go.  I'm being s-summoned, right?" Snape flinched at his stutter.

"Yes.  B-but you can't apparate, you don't know how!  And you can't do it here, because of Dumbledore's anti-apparation wards …"

"I'll figure it out.  Take this back to the dungeons, and see if you can find the Adulescentia potion in any of the text books."  He handed Sirius the paper of ingredients for the youth potion.  "It's worth a look, anyway."  

Sirius could only nod as he watched his brother run off into the opposite direction, both of them holding their left forearms. 

*          *          *

Severus ran toward the nearest tower and flung open the latched window, jumping onto the wide ledge and watching the wind currents.  This side of the castle was facing the lake, and the wind was stronger on this side.  If he wasn't careful, he could get his angle wrong and hit the side of Hogwarts.

"Just wing it," He murmured to himself, echoing an earlier memory of Lily.

He stepped down and took two steadying breaths, closing his eyes and willing the pain down.  The next time he opened his eyes, the world was magnified greatly, and in an odd color mixing of greys and reds.  

Snape spread his animagus gyrfalcon wings, white spotted with grey, and tested them.  His left wing was sore, and upon closer inspection he saw the Dark Mark on downy black feathers on the underside. 

Cursing, which came out as a predatory birdcall, he hopped up onto the windowsill again.  Severus jumped out of the window, opening his wings at an angle to soar toward the ground and pull up at the last possible moment.  He inwardly smiled to himself, in spite of his destination, at being the fastest animal in the world. 


	10. Chapter 10

Lucius Septimius Severus was a Roman Emperor.   Check out this site:  http://www.roman-emperors.org/sepsev.htm 

Interesting …!

_The Fifth Marauder_

By Alarun

Part 10

As Sirius Black rounded the corner for the dungeons, he stopped.  

He and Remus had been in Muggle London before they arrived at Hogwarts; because of that, Sirius had a leather wallet.  Pulling it out of his back pocket, he opened it and looked at the small muggle pictures he had acquired from Remus.  One of them was a portrait of James, Lily, and Harry.  The three of them were smiling and frozen in a wave at the photographer.  

He thought back to the night they were killed.  When he had discovered that Pettigrew had betrayed the Marauders, sold the Potters' names to the Dark Lord.  His first days at Azkaban; the trial that never happened.  He was forgotten.  Nobody had even tried to prove him innocent.  What did Snape do during all of this?  Couldn't he have tried to get him out of prison?  Weren't they _brothers?_

Somebody that dedicated his entire life to fighting for vengeance against the murder of his parents hadn't even attempted to get his own brother out of Azkaban?

*          *          *

"What do you mean, stop searching for the Adulescentia potion?  We need that to get the professors back to normal again!"  Hermione Granger looked aghast as Sirius Black attempted to recover from his younger protégé's scathing reaction.

"I mean, that it obviously isn't this so-called _Adulescentia potion_.  The man ---kid ---potions brat! --- is obviously lying.  That greasy git is just pulling our strings.  He always used to do it in school ---pulling pranks was our forte.  It was what we did.  

"Obviously, Hermione.  Obviously Snape figured out that Lupin and I were around and wanted to get back at us for the salamander-tail incident from the end of Seventh year …"

"Sirius!  Look at yourself!  You're the one who is ---"

"The kid ---guy! ---continues to insist that he and I are brothers.  Twins, on top of that!  Do you see a resemblance between us, Ron?  Hermione?  What about you, Harry?"

Harry Potter wasn't looking at them, and didn't acknowledge their presence from his position over the pensieve.

"But, the phantom pains of the Dark Mark …"

"I was in Azkaban!  He would have gone insane from the phantom pains in that ---"

"You didn't," Ron muttered.

"It would be a good excuse for his less than sunny disposition, I suppose."  Hermione added thoughtfully.

"His mind would have snapped.  You can't pretend to be somebody you're not for fifteen years!  You can't survive on vengeance alone ---"

"You did," Ron muttered again.

" ---Why would he dedicate the rest of his life to spying on the Dark?  The death of _his_ parents wouldn't drag somebody to that extent.  It's all a story ---"

"Sirius."  Harry Potter, his face so pale and drawn that it looked translucent, looked up from the small pewter pensieve for the first time in three hours.  "I would do that same as he did.  Mom…" The Boy Who Lived trailed off into a deafening silence.

Padfoot paled slightly, "I'm sorry, Harry, Hermione, Ron.  I'm upset and …well, confused …He …well…I …I was forgotten in Azkaban for so long, I thought that maybe since ---"  Harry jerked his head to cut his godfather off.  

Harry continued, smoldering fury burning green embers in his eyes.  "I would do just as he did, Sirius Black.  Just as he did…" He trailed off again, Lily's green eyes finding his glasses set on the top of Professor Snape's desk.  He walked around and sat in the comfortably worn chair behind the absent potion master's escritoire, glaring ahead of him in a way that looked oddly like the Professor at his worst.

Hermione Granger took all of this into account and stored it into her carefully constructed analytical memory for later use.  

"Harry, what did you see in Snape's pensieve, when we were kicked out?"  She asked carefully, earning an odd look from Ron.

Harry merely shook his head, but he was no longer glaring.  His eyes were wide and staring into the full-length mirror across the classroom from the desk, which was angled to see perfectly out of one of the high-placed dungeon windows.

Hermoine couldn't see what he was staring at from her vantage point, so she moved to the window, peering carefully so she wouldn't miss anything.

Night had fallen in Scotland, the nearly cloudless sky contained shining pinpricks.  But that wasn't it.

"Harry, what --" she cut off as she realized what it was.  A glowing, silver sphere; it was the moon.  The full moon.

"Remus!"  Sirius shrieked and turned to run out of the lab room with nary another word or glance back, changing into Padfoot the shaggy black dog before he reached the door, to pursue and hopefully control his rabid best friend.  

Lupin hadn't gotten a wolfbane potion.  That was the reason the two had gone to Hogwarts in the first place.

Harry hadn't moved a scant inch.

*          *          *

Severus Snape didn't know how to apparate.

He stood in the main street of Hogsmeade, not knowing where the apparation boundary was supposed to be.  Looking around, he noted the empty cobblestone streets, the chilly wind blowing weakly from the direction of the school.  Severus shivered, folding his arms, wishing that he had grabbed a cloak on his way.  

At least the pain had subsided.  It had lessened the farther away from Hogwarts he got, until it disappeared altogether.  

He knew that Sirius was panicking, but he didn't know why.  Desperately, he wanted to return to see what was going on, but was afraid that the pain would return.


	11. Interlude

Er ..Okay, a small warning. 

This isn't a new chapter for _The Fifth Marauder_, which is currently on hiatus as I'm not sure what to do next.  I know what's going to happen, I just haven't yet figured out how to get there yet.  I'd rather put off posting than to screw up the entire plot and have to repost everything again.

I'm posting a short, one-shot, spin-off of _The Fifth Marauder_ called _The Continuing Escapades of the Five Marauders_.  Writing this gave me the idea for TFM.

It's about the five Marauders in their school days – the real, Snape-Obliviated Past, not the one in the books.  This is what Snape remembers.

**The Continuing Escapades of the Five Marauders**

All For One, One For All 

By Alarun

Ryujin@bolt.com

            "The what?"

            "The Christmas Ball.  Remember?  There's one every Christmas.  Ball Day?  Ringing a bell?"

            "Oh.  What?"

            "Did you test another of your potions on yourself again?"

            "It's called the Absconditus Intellego Potion.  I wonder what it means."

"Er, Severus …you drank a potion and you don't know what it does?"

"Well, I _did_ know.  I just seem to have forgotten."

"Come on, Sev.  The Hospital Wing again."

"The what?"

****

"Let's see …Absconditus means 'hidden or concealed,' and Intellego means 'to understand.'  Ah.  I see."  Remus Lupin snapped his Latin dictionary shut with a muffled _clunk_ and set it down on the Gryffindor Common Room table.  

"So …Sev just took away his ability to understand...anything.  I hope it wears off before the ball."  Lily Evans rolled her eyes and chuckled to herself, imagining herself standing radiantly in her new green dress with her boyfriend laying in an infirmary bed, not quite sure who she was.  Or who he was, for that matter.

"Oh, it will.  I'm starting to feel better already."  Sirius sat up on the couch, holding his pounding head in his hands.  "I wish Madam Pomfrey could treat phantom pains."

"I guess we're lucky he waited until the weekend, anyway.  Why can't he test his potions on the Slytherins like a normal potions student?"

"Slytherins lie," James supplied.  "You know well enough to never trust a Slytherin to give you an accurate recollection of unknown potions' effects."

****

Madam Pomfrey had finally turned her back on the Gryffindor, allowing him to silently stalk unseen out of the Hospital Wing.  

Severus rounded the corner for the Gryffindor Tower and bumped straight into an unmovable brick wall.

The brick wall was Goyle, Severus noted as he looked up from his sitting position in front of the Slytherin gang.  Next to him were Crabbe, and a smirking Lucius Malfoy.  The three were two years older than him, in their seventh and final year at Hogwarts.  Severus tried to push himself to his feet before Malfoy's goons could touch him, but he was too slow, and they each grabbed an arm.

"Why, if it isn't the undergrown Gryffindor.  And look, he's coming from the Infirmary.  Mess up another of your concoctions, Potions Brat?"  Lucius smirked evilly as Severus tried to pull his arms free.  

"Let me go, Malfoy."  Severus choked as Crabbe hit his chest with the back of his hand.  

"Not just yet, Brat.  Either you are going to do my potions homework for me, or I'm going to practice the new Unforgivable Curse I learned over summer break.  What do you say?"

"I say, _eat dirt, Malfoy_!"  A shriek from the shadowed corner resounded throughout the corridor.  James Potter removed his magically enlarged invisibility cloak from over his friends.  He, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Lily Evans, Arabella Rhymes and a slightly cowering Peter Pettigrew jumped to Severus Snape's rescue.


	12. Chapter 11

Er, I'm really sorry, but I don't have enough time to write out all of those responses anymore…I'm lucky I actually had a chance to write this chapter …

::sniffles::

The first 11 chapters have been re-edited.  Nothing really big, though…just redone a little.

This chapter's terribly short, but I'm just getting back into the jig of things.  I'll be writing a bit faster now…HOPEFULLY!  ::giggles::

The Fifth Marauder 

By Alarun

Part 12

Severus Snape tapped on the window of the tower with his beak, perched precariously on Gryffindor tower's stone sill.  Hermione opened the window, letting the blood-covered gyrfalcon hop inside.   He transformed slowly, using what looked to be the last of his strength, because he stumbled and would have fallen to the ground if Harry and Hermione hadn't rushed forward to catch him under each arm.  Blood was streaming down the left side of his face from a nasty looking gash by his hairline, and his left hand was a mangled mess of broken bone.  Lines at the corner of his mouth and between his eyebrows showed them that Severus had aged from his time with Voldemort and his followers.  He looked like he was in his mid-twenties.  Snape's voice was harsh and rasping, and he only said two words.  "He's coming."

Hermione and Harry carefully set Snape down on the Gryffindor couch, Harry moving to pace in front of the fireplace, his wand tapping his hands, which were clasped behind his back.

"Sirius brought us here by floo, and told us not to leave until he came to get us.  He said that it's safer than being in your classroom, since the Fat Lady won't let anybody in without a password.  Lupin's transformed into a werewolf."  Hermione's lips thinned as she watched the rest of the color drain from the Potions Master's face.

"I know the passwords now.  I don't know what happened with Voldemort …I can't remember much, they must have Obliviated me…" He spoke as he walked past Harry to the fireplace, "I _do_ remember him saying that he was going to attack Hogwarts, and soon, while the staff and faculty are out of action.  

"Voldemort decided that I wasn't much use physically trapped as a kid, so he added a few years.  I wish I knew how …  

"It's all my fault Lily and James died.  I remember it, now.  If only I didn't tell them …" Snape trailed off, wiping at the blood that was drying on his face.  There were small, clear tracks running down his cheeks.  It took Harry a second to realize that they had been tear trails.  The Boy Who Lived was watching him with red-rimmed eyes.  "I'm sorry, Harry.  Can you forgive me?"

Harry Potter didn't say anything, but he pulled the Professor into a tight hug and didn't let go for a long time.


	13. Chapter 12

The Fifth Marauder 

By Alarun

Part 13

"I know the antidote for the Adulescentia potion.  Our main priority right now is getting the staff and faculty back to normal, then we can worry about what Sirius did with Re---the werewolf---and stop Voldemort from attacking Hogwarts."  Snape reluctantly pulled away from his son.

Hermione stood up from the couch, intent on going with him to his laboratory.  He shook his head.  "I need to stop by the infirmary, but when I get down to the lab, I'll start a fire, and you can come by floo.  It's too dangerous to be wandering around outside, and I need a lot of help."  Severus put a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder and strode past them to the door.

*          *          *

Ron Weasley was sitting cross-legged on his canopied bed, staring blindly out of the window.  He ignored Hermione, who was yelling for him to come down to the Common room, that Snape was back and they were going to the Potions room.

*          *          *

Voldemort was sitting atop his high backed steed, his legs placed carefully behind the black leathery wings.  He had learned to ride when he was a young boy.  His parents had insisted upon riding lessons.  The one thing they had done right.

His winged stallion, Jova, danced as the lightning flew from the sky, thick maned neck arched and ears pricked forward excitedly, wings opening to envelope the sky around him.  Voldemort shifted his weight back, squeezing lightly on the reins.  _Not yet, Jova.  Almost time, though._  He smirked, laughing inwardly.

The muggles he had used the Imperio curse on for his army stood in formation.  If not for their wide variations in clothing, they would have looked like the greatest army in the world.  None spoke a word, moved a muscle.  No eye blinked or looked around.  Silence reigned.

Voldemort patted his chest pocket, where his secret weapon was hidden in a small, pearl and ivory box.  There was no way he could lose this battle.

*          *          *

Alby was just waking up for the second time.  His tongue felt like it was covered in fur, his head felt like it was going to implode, and he wasn't sure if he was completely blind or not.  All was overshadowed by a vast sensation of nausea.

When the smell of pepper and onion omelets reached his nose, he was pretty certain he was going to die.

Minnie Mackie just slit her eyes open against the overly bright light of various torches lining the walls in time to see Albus Dumbledore retch over the side of the balcony.  She flinched, feeling a chain-reaction gag try to rise up in her throat, and swallowed it down.  

Rolling herself onto her side, she pushed herself up to a sitting position, holding onto her pounding head.  

Ruby Hagrid just finished eating his very own hangover cure, an omelet with peppers and onions, with a tall glass of milk and three bottles of water, courtesy of the Hogwarts house-elves.  He burped loudly, startling the other inhabitants of the upper hall into a state of hungover consciousness.

Hagrid pulled himself to his feet with the aid of the stone railing in time to see Alby Bumblebee (at least, that's what Professor Dumbledore had told Hagrid to call him when they were both slobbering drunk) throw up over the side.  He followed it with his eyes, hoping that it didn't land on anyone when it got to the bottom.

There was a frantic barking echoing down one of the wings, followed by a deep roar that sounded startlingly like a lion.  Hagrid felt his chest jump.  Animals inside Hogwarts!  He strode off toward the noise, intent on helping whatever animals had unknowingly wandered into the school.

*          *          *

"Poppy?  What ---?"  Snape stopped in his tracks, looking at the surprised teenaged Mediwitch.

"Oh, oh.  Yes, Dear?  I'll try to help you best I can, but there don't seem to be any qualified staff members around here.  I'm studying, though, to be a Mediwitch.  What ---?  Oh dear, dear."  Poppy Pomfrey the teenager saw his broken hand and rushed forward, pushing him onto one of the hospital beds.

"I haven't got much time, Poppy.  I need to make the antidote to the Adulescentia ---Oh, never mind."  He refused to meet her confused gaze.

"I never was one for Potions class, dearie.  Help you if I could, though, I would.  Here, give me your hand."  She proceeded to cast a cleaning charm to see the damaged bones better.  "Oh dear.  You've got a crushed carpal, my dear.  The ulna is snapped …though your radius seems intact. Odd, like somebody did that on purpose...with magic.  Oh my, your hand is going to need some work."  Poppy muttered some simple healing charms, "I can't fix all of these without at least twelve hours.  But it doesn't seem like you have that long …unless?"

He shook his head sternly.  Voldemort was going to attack within the next twelve hours, without a doubt.

"I suppose we can settle for something more Muggle.  Here, I think there are spare ace bandages around here …"


	14. Chapter 13

The Fifth Marauder

By Alarun

Part 14

Something moved.

Ron Weasley had been staring out of the window for hours.  At least, it felt like hours, because of the stiffness he felt in his neck and back.  The world outside the window was silent and still.  It was like watching a Muggle painting.  

But then something moved.  

Ron uncrossed his legs, leaning forward on his elbows, peering through his own reflection in the glass.  It was far away, like a small black dot rising above the distant fields, past Professor Sprout's greenhouses and Hagrid's small stone house. 

Standing up, he didn't remove his eyes from the small spot as he felt through the trunk at the foot of his bed for his pair of omnioculars that Harry had bought him.  He brought them up to his eyes, focusing.

(A/N: Are they called _omnioculars_?  I can't remember!)

*          *          *

Voldemort himself sped toward Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Jova trying to bite down on the bit and fly faster.  He tugged gently on the reins, collecting back the horse's head until his chin was pointing straight down.

He flew over the many towers of the school, looking down on the gigantic castle.  When the Dark Lord neared the center courtyard ---the place Madame Hooch always gave her students their flying lessons ---he pushed his heels down, toes out, and stood in the stirrups, leaning forward into the two-point position.  With the sudden loosening of the reins, Jova bunched together and flew up at as high an angle as possible.  

It was like jumping a horse that never came down again, but Jova stopped when he reached his height limit.  All flying horses had their limit to how far into the sky they dared travel, and Voldemort had chosen Jova as his own mount because the stallion was braver than the rest. 

Hovering lightly in the air, Voldemort reached for the small pearl and ivory box.  It was the size of a ring box, square, and beautifully crafted with delicate designs carved into the cover.  It didn't have a latch, but Voldemort had never opened it.  

The Dark Lord held it out at arm's length, studying the surrounding wind.  When the world seemed still enough, he opened his fingers and kicked Jova hard with his heels, attempting to clear the vicinity before the little box hit the ground in the middle of Hogwarts' courtyard.

*          *          *

Snape arrived at his private lab the instant deafening explosions racked the school.  He stood in the doorway, leaning on the frame, praying to whatever gods might be listening that Hogwarts remained intact.  

Dumbledore's wards dissipated the instant the Headmaster reverted into a teenager, though there were probably no warning bells going off for Voldemort.  If one of ill intent spent too long scrying the castle, they would end up with a dizzying headache for a week.  The Dark Lord himself was not immune to that effect.  He had figured it out, however.  And too soon.

When the room stopped trembling, Severus strode to the fireplace and cast an incendio, throwing a bit of floo powder into it, and went about setting up a few cauldrons.

Harry and Hermione appeared in front of the fireplace, one after the other.

Snape opened up a large tome, silently showing the two fifth years the ingredients for the adulescentia potion.  "This begins simply, in three different cauldrons.  It gets more complex when it gets to the cooling stage, when they need to be added together exactly."  Snape reluctantly handed Harry and Hermione the book, stepping away.  "I need you two to start it as quickly as possible.  I'll be back as soon as I can."  Without another word, Severus swept out of the room.

*          *          *

Sorry for the shortness and the lateness!  I'm actually getting an idea for what happens, though, so watch out!  Some sort of angst might be coming …

Please let me know what you think!  Even if it's just one word, like "sucks," or "good," please leave me a review!  Er, though I'd probably be happier if you let me know what I could improve or change, or what you like about this story.  

Peace!


	15. Chapter 14

Hghwaychil --- Thank you so much for that review!  I was thinking along the same lines myself, but was more concerned with what was going to happen rather than what actually was happening.  Bad idea, that.  I'm going to redo this once it's finished.  Right now, though, my time is a bit short ---my hours increased 300% at work, up to 60 hours a week after school ends.  Plus, I have my college orientation, placement testing, and my crazy thoroughbred to play with.  

Anyway, thanks again for the review.  I hope I do a bit better until I get the chance to rewrite it …

:o)

Speaking of thanks for reviews …Wow, geez, you guys are so cool!  I can't believe I've actually gotten reviews …Heh.  Thank you all so much!  If it weren't for you, I'd've really given up on this a long time ago, just settling for it living in my head.

 Lina Inverse the Dramata –Actually, it's an exorcism.  I had a psychology paper to do on a psychological disorder, so I chose exorcism.  Er, at least I treated it as a psychological disorder.  I wrote an Anatomy/Physiology extra credit report on the Cruciatus curse, too.  Off topic again… I had 10 pages to waste, so I added the Latin.  Here's the whole thing:

Exorcizo te, omnis spiritus immunde, in nomine Dei Patris omnipotentis, et in noimine Jesu Christi Filii ejus, Domini et Judicis nostri, et in virtute Spiritus Sancti, ut descedas ab hoc plasmate Dei (name), quod Dominus noster ad templum sanctum suum vocare dignatus est, ut fiat templum Dei vivi, et Spiritus Sanctus habitet in eo. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum, qui venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos, et saeculum per ignem.

Translated:

I exorcise thee, every unclean spirit, in the name of God, the Father Almighty, and in the name of Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord and Judge, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, that thou depart from this creature of God, (persons' name), which our Lord hath designed to call unto His holy temple, that it may be made the temple of the living God, and that the Holy Spirit may dwell therein. Through the same Christ our Lord, who shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world by fire.

~8^)

Starr --- Sirius and Severus have different last names because …uh, okay, well, because they're not really twins in the book series, and I'm too chicken to actually change them.  Heh.

Oh well, then.  Lemme grab the sacred jar of olives and finish off this chapter!

The Fifth Marauder

Chapter 15 …16…something.  Let's just call it A New Chapter.  

Severus sprinted as quickly as his long legs could carry him toward the stairs before he realized something that made him slide to a stop:  the wards are down.  He apparated to the Great Hall before he finished the thought.  If the wards are down, why not take advantage of the fact?

Students lined the floor like the aftermath of a bloodless battle.  Groans were heard above the still shuddering castle, which seemed to be shifting to keep its own balance in the earthquake occurring outside.  Snape drew his wand.

"Excito!" (to bring about, wake) Power flared around him, sent out in a circle to each corner of the Great Hall.  Students shot into sitting positions, some rolling to their feet, all holding their throbbing heads.  

The magic that Severus had summoned lingered longer than it should have.  He waved his wand experimentally, and watched as a small whisp of energy escaped the tip.  It wasn't supposed to do that.  It was as if something were pulling the magic out of him through his wand, the focus point of his magic.

Nobody else seemed to notice the extra power as it slowly dissipated into the air or seeped out the window.  Thinking twice about casting anything again so soon, he spoke louder instead of using a charm to magnify his voice.

"Get to your Common rooms immediately.  You will be dealt with as soon as you appear capable of human speech again.  Now!"  Snape glowered at three nearby Hufflepuffs, and they began walking quickly toward their tower, beginning a mass march away from the open room.  It would undoubtedly be best not to alarm the students and cause mass hysteria ---even if it would make their sorry hung-over arses move quicker.  Apparently they thought the school's spasms were only inside their own heads.

He flexed his damaged hand, wincing in pain.  Time to find Albus and get the faculty to his labs where they could get to work on the antidote.  The sooner the Headmaster got back to normal, the greater the chance that they wouldn't all die in the immediate future.

Striding out of the Hall after the students, he spotted a glint of light from inside the courtyard, as if someone wish a small hand mirror was reflecting the light in a sort of code toward that particular window.  He stopped and glared as best he could, but he could see nothing other than the small, flashing light.

He would inspect it after locating the Headmaster and securing him down in the dungeons where it was safer.

Severus began walking down the hall, straining his ears for sound. 

*          *          *

So concentrated on listening as he was, he didn't notice the other man silently stalking him.

A figure jumped from the shadows, catching Severus Snape from behind. The professor spun to meet the intruder head on, deflecting a wrist that held a knife, and jumping to kick it out of his raised hand.  Severus did not like the problem he had with his magic lingering in the Great Hall, and was too nervous to attempt to cast anything with an enemy attacking him.  Only reliable weapons are to be used in fights, unless you had no other alternative, his combat Master once told him.

The intruder lunged at the professor, unfazed at his swift disarming, pushing him into the wall and snap kicking at waist level.  Snape twisted out of the way, leaving him to kick the wall.  Snape took that moment of imbalance to punch the intruder under the jaw with his good hand.  He recovered what seemed like too quickly, spinning away from Snape to elbow him in the gut.

That was blocked and parried with a knee to the shorter, stockier man's stomach, followed by a series of snap kicks aimed at his side. 

The intruder blocked the second snap kick, countering with a punch to the stomach and jaw, which landed and caused Snape to growl a curse that, under normal circumstances, would probably have gotten him a firm scolding from the Headmaster.

Snape grabbed the man's arm as he threw a third punch, twisting his elbow and slamming him face first into the wall, elbowing him in the kidney region of the back.  He pushed the man away, and jumped back when he was attacked again.

Snape kept the wall to his back in case there were others around.  The stranger jumped to kick out Snape's knee, and Snape blocked it with his foot, not hesitating to kick out the other man's support leg.  He fell back, and Snape watched for an opening. 

They exchanged a series of kicks and punches that were all successfully blocked, Snape ending in a back-sweep kick to knock the intruders legs out from under him.  

Snape reached for his quill-knife, kept in a breast pocket.  Grabbing the man by the collar, he dragged him to his feet and slammed him against the wall, holding the thin blade under his jaw. 

Tears came to his eyes at the sudden pain of holding something in his broken hand, but he quickly blinked them away as he glared down the intruder.  

He was wearing damaged Muggle clothing.  His eyes were blank, containing no thought of their own.  It was a Muggle.  Under the Imperio curse.

Snape cursed, his voice echoing in the darkening hall of Hogwarts.

PHEW!  I hope you liked this bit.  More to come, some time.  I'm getting a bit more serious now that things are starting to heat up.  Please let me know what you think …or what you think is going to happen!  I despise being predictable, so I may have to change my original plan …


	16. Chapter 15

I'm still alive …BOOYAH!  Unfortunately, this chapter is abysmally short.  Hey, better than nothing …I hope…

The Fifth Marauder

Chapter …uh…New …  :o)

Alarun

The small silver wisps that began to slowly creep out of the pearl and ivory box grew into dense fog.  It covered the entire courtyard; nearly waist deep, so thick and white that the green grass underneath was impossible to see.

A swirling white vortex formed in the air above the opened box, forming into a larger ellipse, growing and elongating until it was nearly a pillar of silver light with no end.

From within the center of the pillar a frail form seemed contained, vaguely humanoid in shape, though unnaturally long and slender.   Limbs continued for a meter past the place normal hands and feet would be; leaving off in a fading opacity that would have been ghostlike if not for the fact that she was a solid being capable of using the limbs as weapons.

The pillar of light faded, leaving the slender being floating in the air.

Reaching out with her whip-like limbs, she danced and twirled and spun in the courtyard, swimming in the feeling of finally being surrounded by magic again. 

Breathing deeply, she closed her silver eyes and sought out whatever magic she could feel deep within her conscious.

She was hungry.

*          *          *

Severus had located Albus, Minerva, and the rest of the teachers by the third floor corridor after locking the imperio'd muggle in a nearby classroom.  With few words, he led the faculty down to the dungeons, where Hermione and Harry were working diligently on the Adulescentia antidote.

Snape sat the teachers down in various chairs, and set about explaining to them what was happening as he worked on a portion of the potion, absent-mindedly advising Hermione and Harry.  He didn't bring up Voldemort's attack, though: not until they were cured.  The teachers listened attentively, asking questions now and again, until something glowing white behind Severus distracted them.

He followed their eyes and saw a slender female figure appear in front of him, seeming to form from mist that gathered from the thin air.  The last parts to form were her face and eyes, which were mercury-silver and seemed to be staring through him.

She reached out an arm that never seemed to end and stroked the side of his face, smiling maternally.  He felt the dried blood crack off under the caress, and was too stunned to move.

"You are leaking."

Her lips didn't move, but her voice was loud and strong, hanging in the air like a tuning fork.

"Sorry," was all that he could think for a reply.

"I could smell you from across the castle.  Your magic.  It is leaking from your wounds."

Snape backed away from her as she moved toward him, but she trapped him against the table, her long arms resting on either side of him.

"Get away from her!" Dumbledore shouted from across the room, standing up.  "She's a Quantum Daemon!"

Snape tried to dive away from her, but she was faster.  As quick as light, her cold left cheek pressed against his right, and he felt like his heart was going to explode.


	17. Chapter 16

… Look …Look!  What's this?  A new chapter!

The Fifth Marauder

Chapter … Newer

Alarun 

Severus Snape felt as if his body was being shocked all over by small sparks of electricity.  It didn't exactly hurt, but he would have preferred to have gotten away from this monster.

Hermione felt herself take a sharp intake of breath when she saw the Potions Master's face.  It aged nearly ten years as she watched, in quick succession, and a frown line inserted itself between his eyebrows.  After he looked as he did the day before Fred and George's prank, the greasy, pale, hook-nosed Potions Master, his features continued to rearrange themselves.  

It was exactly as she saw in the pensieve, only backwards.  His hooked nose formed into an unbroken one; his face turned from sallow to a healthy pale.  Though he didn't look exactly as Sirius Black did, the resemblance was unmistakable.  Snape was being un-Obliviated!

The gears began to click and grind inside Hermione Granger's head.  The Quantum Daemon was a spirit who feeds upon past spells; Hermione remembered reading about her in an extra credit Defense Against the Dark Arts assignment.  Of course, that meant the effects of a potion, as well…the reason Severus Snape aged back into his old self before the Daemon moved on to his Obliviated past.

_You should taste everyone else, too.  They've had a rather large spell placed on them._  Hermione thought toward the creature.  She didn't think it could really hear her.

The Quantum Daemon released Snape and gave a small, Mona Lisa smile as he sank to the ground, semi-conscious.  Blood ran from his eyes like tears.  

Dumbledore rushed forward, checking Severus's pulse with two fingers to his neck.  He didn't notice the Quantum Daemon fly over him toward Minerva McGonagall.  

Hermione's throat contracted when she saw the blood on Snape's face.  She didn't remember reading about the blood in her books.

Harry and Ron each went for an elbow as Hermione jumped forward toward the Daemon, her teeth bared like a cat.  Professor McGonagall never knew what hit her; she was staring at Snape when the monster knocked her over.

*          *          *

Hogwarts began shaking again, as if it was a living being adjusting to the new parasitic force inside of it.  The walls bent and twisted until they should have cracked, but the rock and mortar of the dungeon remained solid.  The ground below them tilted as if it was the back of a stretching cat, and nearly everyone standing in the lab lost their balance and fell to their knees.  

Dumbledore remained protectively over Snape, his feet placed a shoulder-span apart for balance.  His wand was held tightly in his right hand like a sword.

The Quantum Daemon stood from her kneeling position next to Minerva, and they watched as a trail of blood escaped from the corner of one of the older Transfiguration Professor's eyes.

Albus twirled his wand like a rock drummer readying himself for a grand solo.  He caught it deftly in loose fingers and waved it in a complicated rune before opening his mouth to cast a banishing charm ---

---Just as a giant werewolf broke down the thick wooden door.

*          *          *

Hermione Granger had never felt as guilty in her entire life as she felt in this moment.  She didn't think it through before acting.  She had never done that before.

She averted her eyes from the trembling form of her Transfiguration teacher, now older and back to normal.  

Snape was becoming alert, and was wiping the blood from his eyes with a black sleeve as Rem ---the werewolf ---broke down the door, followed by a large black dog.  It jumped onto the Quantum Daemon, and released a deafening howl as the Daemon fought to feed on the werewolf.

The Potions Master pulled himself weakly to his feet and caught the table before his legs gave out.  Harry rushed forward without thinking and put his father's arm around his shoulders, supporting him to the potions cabinet that stood on the closest wall.  Snape pulled it open with a muttered password and began pulling out randomly colored bottles of potions, handing a few to Harry.

Snape took a deep breath and threw one at the Daemon and werewolf, a flask the shape of a teardrop and the white-blue color of a glacier.  It shattered squarely on the back of the whip-limbed monster.  

She didn't flinch.  The potion rolled off like water on a diamond.

The Potions Master's jaw dropped, but he recovered quickly and pulled out his wand.  Pointing it at the unlit burner on the table, he muttered, "_incendio."_  Not even a spark of magic emitted from his wand.

"Bugger."


	18. Chapter 17

The Fifth Marauder

Chapter 17

Alarun

(Me no owny)

I know this is really short …but …I'm a little bit tired out.  Hoo boy, college is hard!  Whodathunk?  Anyway, R&R with strange and enthusiastic comments, and I may be tempted to put off Chemistry and Astronomy homework for more writing … ::cackle::

The werewolf that was once Remus Lupin tore apart the Quantum Daemon.  Quicksilver blood covered the beast's muzzle and sprayed across the room like mercury droplets.  Large pieces ripped off of the monster; one of her arms was gone from the elbow.

Severus Snape dragged Harry, Hermione and Ron out of the room behind the fighting monsters.  "Don't move," he instructed, and ran back in for the teachers.  He paused at the doorway, "on second thought, run up to the Owl Tower and owl everybody that you know for help.  Not the Ministry."  He ducked back into the room.

Harry almost sprinted back in after his father, but Hermione's voice held him back.  "C'mon, we have to help, and we can't do that if the Quantum Daemon gets to us, too.  Harry …?"

"Right, Hermione."  Harry grabbed her hand, and Hermione grabbed Ron's.

"Right."  Ron grinned like they weren't in a dangerous one-wrong-move-and-you-die situation.  They ran to the Owl Tower as fast as they could.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_Please come to Hogwarts as soon as you can.  It's an emergency.  A Quantum Daemon or something._

_Love,_

_Ron_

"How's that?" Ron asked Hermione, holding the parchment up for her to see.  

They were in a hurry, so she just nodded encouragingly as a school owl flew to the perch next to the Weasley, politely holding out his leg.

Harry just crafted a note to Mad-Eye Moody, the only auror he could think of who wouldn't run straight to the Ministry.  He asked him to bring as many friends as he could.

Hermione couldn't think of anyone else to write to.  All of their usual saviors were the ones in trouble.  She wondered idly where Sirius Black was, and glanced out of the tower window.

The ground seemed to be moving with people.  Thousands, tromping out of the Forbidden Forest, movements awkward and stumbling like they were zombies …or like they were fighting some invisible force.

Like the Imperius curse.

The Quantum Daemon was breaking apart like chipping ice.  She wasn't dying, she was using a tactic she knew the werewolf couldn't counter.

Each small piece of her that broke apart from the whole became another Daemon.  Ranging in size from a few centimeters to half a meter, they latched themselves onto the thick pelt of the werewolf, who howled in bloodthirsty rage but couldn't reach all of them in time.

As she was slowly overpowering the werewolf, the teachers who were conscious dragged the unconscious out into the hall.  Albus Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey and Hana Hooch were the only three left unharmed, and Albus sent Hana and Pomfrey with the others, some carried on magical stretchers cast by the unaffected three, back to his safely warded office.  None mentioned that the Daemon would simply eat the ward.

Severus glared like he would have in today's Gryffindor/Slytherin potions class, had it turned out to be a normal day.  He watched the pieces of the Daemon bring the werewolf to the ground, and start to withdraw as he turned back into Lupin.  She already had Severus's magic, but if she had her way she would eat through his life force as well, until he was just …dead.  Then she would transfer some of her power to his essence and turn him into a Quantum Daemon too.  Severus ignored the small practical voice in his head and ran back in to drag him out.

With Remus Lupin's arm over his shoulder, he practically carried his classmate to Albus's office.  Once he got the unconscious man safely inside, Severus took off for the Owl Tower to find his son.

That's when he heard the helicopters.

Holy crap!  Why are there helicopters?  Was that part of the plot, or my strangely over-tired brain trying to surprise me into staying awake?   Bugger!


End file.
